Staple cartridge in stapler

ABSTRACT

A staple cartridge is detachably arranged in a body of a stapler. The staple cartridge includes a cartridge body for accommodating a staple belt in which a plurality of rod-shaped staples are connected to each other and rolled into a roller-shape and a guide member for guiding the staples at a time of forming leg portions of the staples or after forming the leg portions.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a staple cartridge accommodating astaple belt in which a plurality of staples are rolled into aroller-shape, the stable cartridge detachably arranged in a body of astapler.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

A published Japanese translation of PCT international publication forpatent application (the Japanese translation No. JP-T-2003-517938)disclose a stapler in which a cassette (referred to as a cartridge) foraccommodating belt-shaped staples (referred to as a roll-shaped staplebelt) in which rod-shaped staples, which have not been formed yet, areconnected to each other and rolled into a roller-shape so that theplurality of staples can be continuously driven out from the stapler.

The cassette has a shaper and driver which are arranged so that they canbe reciprocated. In the above stapler, after the staples have beensuccessively formed into a C-shape, that is, after a pair of legportions haven been formed in each staple, the staples are driven out bya driver.

In some related-art cartridges, only the roll-shaped staple belt isreplaced with another one in the cartridge body.

In JP-T-2003-517938, both the shaper and the driver are arranged in thecassette. Therefore, the constitution is complicated and expensive.Further, when the cassette is replaced with a new one, the shaper andthe driver are also discarded together with the cassette, which is wasteof resources.

Further, in JP-T-2003-517938, the stapler does not include a face platewhich is a member used for removing a nail which a driver failed indriving. That is, it is impossible for a user to touch a cassette, whichhas once charged into Stapler, with the hands. Accordingly, inJP-T-2003-517938, even when a plurality of nails remain in the cassetteat the time of failing in driving a nail, the user can not do anythingwithout replacing the cassette with a new one, that is, the staplecartridge is not handy.

In the type in which only the roll-shaped staple belt is charged intothe cartridge body, a joint is necessarily formed between a new and anold staple belt at the time of replacing the roll-shaped staple belt.Therefore, double feeding occurs in which the staples are put on eachother when they are fed. In order to prevent the occurrence of thisdouble feeding, it is necessary to enhance the accuracy of the height ofthe staple feeding passage in the staple guide unit. Alternatively, itis necessary to enhance the accuracy of the height of the feeding pawlfor feeding the staple. In this connection, this feeding pawl isarranged in the cartridge. Further, it is necessary to enhance an amountof feeding. Furthermore, it is necessary to execute the inspection ofaccuracy.

Concerning the material of this cartridge, in general, the cartridgebody is formed out of synthetic resin such as plastics. On the otherhand, the cartridge includes a metallic member such as a staple guidewhich functions as a guide when it comes into contact with staples madeof metal.

In the case where the staples accommodated in the cartridge have beenused up and the cartridge is discarded, in order to facilitate the reuseof usable resources, it is necessary to classify members into themembers made of synthetic resin and the members made of metal and doaway with the classified members. An unexamined patent publicationapplication No. JP-A-2003-62766 discloses the technique in which a thinthickness groove is provided in a cartridge body and the cartridge bodyis divided into two with respect to this thin thickness groove so thatmetallic members such as a spring can be classified.

In JP-A-2003-62766, the cartridge body is divided into two by the hands.Therefore, in order to divide the cartridge body, it is necessary for anoperator to give a considerably strong force to the cartridge body.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Illustrative aspects of the present invention provide a simple,inexpensive and handy staple cartridge in stapler.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a staple cartridge,detachably arranged in a body of a stapler, is provided with a cartridgebody for accommodating a staple belt in which a plurality of rod-shapedstaples are connected to each other and rolled into a roller-shape and aguide member for guiding the staples at a time of forming leg portionsof the staples or after forming the leg portions.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the staple cartridge maybe further comprising a face plate arranged so that a driving passagefor driving out a staple is opened.

According to a third aspect of the invention, the cartridge body may bemade of synthetic resin and the guide member may be made of metal, andthe guide member may be assembled to the cartridge body so that thestaples, which the leg portions have not been formed yet, serve as astopper of the guide member.

In this case, the guide member is a staple guide which functions as areceiving table at the time of bending a rod-shaped staple into aC-shape, that is, at the time of forming a leg portion of the staple.Alternatively, the guide member is a pusher for pushing the leg portionsof the staple so that the leg portions can be on the same line as thatof the driver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a stapler of an embodimentaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the stapler shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the staplecartridge has been removed from the body of the stapler shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view of the staple cartridge shown inFIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the staple cartridge shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a primary portion which is takenon line 6-6 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an overall arrangement view showing a state in which the faceplate shown in FIG. 4 is opened.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the staples shownin FIG. 6 are removed from the cartridge body.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view for explaining a process in which the stapleguide shown in FIG. 6 is removed from the cartridge body.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state in which the staple guideshown in FIG. 8 is removed from the cartridge body.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a state in which the staple guideshown in FIG. 9 is removed from the cartridge body.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state in which the pusher shownin FIG. 10 is removed from the cartridge body.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing a state in which the pusher shown inFIG. 11 is removed from the cartridge body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, a staple cartridge in a stapler, which is anembodiment of the present invention, will be explained below. In theembodiment, explanations will be made into a case in which the stapleris of the electrically operated type and staples, which are rolled intoa roller-shape, are accommodated in a staple cartridge. The electricallyoperated type stapler, which will be referred to as “stapler”hereinafter, are incorporated, for example, into a copier or a facsimileterminal device and used for automatically stapling a predeterminednumber of sheets of paper processed by the copier or the facsimileterminal device.

Further, the stapler is composed so that the staple cartridge can beattached to and detached from the stapler. In this connection, FIG. 1 isan overall perspective view of the stapler of the embodiment. FIG. 2 isa side view of the stapler shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective viewshowing a state in which the staple cartridge has been removed from thebody of the stapler shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an overall perspectiveview of the staple cartridge shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a plan view ofthe staple cartridge shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectionalview of a primary portion which is taken on line 6-6 in FIG. 5. FIG. 7is an overall perspective view showing a state in which the face plateshown in FIG. 4 is rotated.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a stapler 10 includes a body 11 composing aframe and others. The stapler 10 also includes: a motor 12; a driverlink 20; a driver 21 shown by the two-dotted chain line in FIG. 2; aforming plate 22 shown by the two-dotted chain line in FIG. 2; a table30; and a magazine 40.

The magazine 40 is attached with a staple cartridge 80. The magazine 40is held through a spring (not shown) being separate from the driver link20 by a threshold distance. The magazine 40 and the driver link 20 areelevated by the motor 12. Concerning this matter, refer to thetwo-dotted chain line in FIG. 2. The driver 21 and the forming plate 22are fixed to the driver link 20 shown in FIG. 2. The forming plate 22,which is a forming means, is a plate for forming the rod-shaped stapleS, which has not been formed yet, shown in FIG. 6, into a C-shape.Specifically, the forming plate 22 is a plate for forming the legportion S1 of the staple S. The driver 21 is a plate for driving out thestaple SA, the leg portion of which has already been formed, which islocated at the most front end portion, into sheets of paper to bestapled not shown.

The table 30 is always pushed onto the magazine 40 side through a springnot shown. As shown by the two-dotted chain line in FIG. 2, on the table30, the clincher 31 is arranged being opposed to the driver 21. Theclincher 31 is a receiving table for bending the leg portion S1 of thestaple SA driven out by the driver 21.

A staple sensor not shown is arranged in the stapler 10. When the staplesensor is turned on, CPU not shown judges that the number of theremaining staples S is small, that is, CPU judges that all staples Shave been substantially used up. Therefore, CPU forcibly stops thestapling operation and gives a warning to an operator so as to replacethe staple cartridge 80.

As shown in FIG. 4, the staple cartridge 80 includes: a cartridge body81 made of synthetic resin; a face plate 90; a staple guide 92 made ofmetal which is a guide member; and a pusher 94 made of metal shown inFIG. 6. The cartridge body 81 includes: an accommodating portion 82; aleading portion 84; a cover 86; and a knob 88. The knob 88 is arrangedat the rear end of the cartridge body 81. A plane shape of the knob 88is formed into a substantial C-shape so that it can be held at the timeof attaching the cartridge body 81 to the magazine 40. FIG. 4 is aperspective view of the stapler 10 taken from the opposite side to FIG.3.

As shown in FIG. 4, the accommodating portion 82 is formed into asubstantial cylindrical shape on the front side of the knob 88. A beltof the staples S, which are rolled into a roller-shape, are accommodatedin the accommodating portion 82. A section of the leading portion 84 isformed into a substantial C-shape so that the leading portion 84 can becontinued to the substantial center of the accommodating portion 82. Thestaples S accommodated in the accommodating portion 82 are successivelysent to the driving passage shown in FIG. 6 through the leading portion84 (through the head portion 81A of the cartridge body 81) by thefeeding needle 71 of the feeding mechanism arranged in the body 11 ofthe stapler 10.

The cover 86 is formed into a plate-shape for covering the leadingportion 84. At the substantial center of the cover 86, the pressingpiece 87 is integrally formed. As shown in FIG. 6, the pressing piece 87presses the staples S, which are successively fed, against the feedingface 84A side of the leading portion so that the staples S can bepositioned. At the same time, the pressing piece 87 prevents the staplesS from being fed in the opposite direction in the leading portion 84.The substantially rectangular opening 86A is formed on the feedingdirection side of the cover 86. The feeding pawl 71 described before isinserted into the opening 86A and the staples S are sent to the forwardend.

A plane shape of the face plate 90 is formed into a C-shape as shown inFIGS. 5 and 7. As shown in FIG. 6, the face plate 90 covers the frontend of the head portion 81A of the cartridge body 81 so as to form adriving passage of the staples SA. At the front end portion of the faceplate 90, a pair of protrusions not shown is formed. These protrusionsare engaged in the groove 81B shown in FIG. 7 of the cartridge body 81as shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 7, the face plate 90 rotates roundthe protrusion in a threshold angular range.

In the case where a nail, which the driver 21 failed to drive, or anail, which the clincher 31 failed to clinch, remains in the drivingpassage, by rotating the face plate 90 as shown in FIG. 7, the drivingpassage is opened and the nail, which the driver failed to drive, thatis, the jammed nail can be removed.

The face plate 90 may be made of metal. Even in this case, when theprotrusion is disengaged from the groove 81B, the face plate 90 can beeasily disengaged from the cartridge body 81. Only a portion of the faceplate 90 may be made of metal. Specifically, a portion of the face plate90 composing the driving passage may be made of metal. Even in thiscase, when the metallic portion is of the fitting type, the face plate90 can be easily removed.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the cartridge body 81, a pair of engaging pieces89 is integrally formed on the knob 88 side. The engaging pieces 89 areengaged with the stopper 41 shown in FIG. 3 formed in the magazine 40and the staple cartridge 80 is attached to the magazine 40. The staplesS of the embodiment are respectively formed into a rod-shape before thestaples S are formed into a C-shape. A plurality of staples S arecontinued to each other by a tape not shown. Concerning this matter,refer to FIG. 6.

The staple guide 92 made of metal is formed into a substantialflat-plate-shape as shown in FIG. 10. The staple guide 92 becomes areceiving table used when the rod-shaped staples S shown in FIG. 6 areformed being bent into a C-shape by the forming plate 22. As shown inFIG. 10, in the staple guide 92, a pair of groove portions 93 areformed. The groove portions 93 are respectively engaged with a pair ofstoppers 85, which are formed in the leading portion 84, and positioned.

As shown in FIG. 12, the pusher 94 is fitted and engaged in the headportion 81A of the cartridge body 81. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, theengaging piece 94A of the pusher 94 is engaged with the head portion81A. As shown in FIG. 6, on the face 95 (shown in FIG. 12) of the pusher94, the staple guide 92 is put and the setting is previously made sothat the staple guide 92 and the feeding face 84A can be on the sameface. That is, the assembling structure of the staple cartridge iscomposed in such a manner that the staples S, which are articles ofconsumption, hold the staple guide 92 and the pusher 94. In other words,the staples S, which are articles of consumption, function as a stopperfor preventing the components from coming out.

As shown in FIG. 12, in the pusher 94, a pair of spring pieces 96 areintegrally formed corresponding to the leg portions S1 (shown in FIG. 6)of the staples SA. The spring piece 96 pushes the staples SA so that theleg portions S1 of the staples SA can be on the same line as that of thedriver, that is, the leg portions S1 of the staples SA can be vertical.The stopper piece 94B are formed being bent at an end portion of theface 95 of the pusher 94. When the staple guide 92 is made to agree withthe stopper piece 94B, an end edge of the staple guide 92 is arranged sothat it can correspond to the forming plate 22.

Action of the Present Embodiment is explained hereafter.

As shown in FIG. 6, the staple S is bent by the forming plate 22 so asto form the leg portion S1 and then the staple SA is driven out by thedriver 21 to sheets of paper (not shown) to be stapled. The leg portionS1 of the staple SA, which has penetrated the sheets of paper to bestapled, is bent by the clincher 31 (shown in FIG. 2) which is arrangedbeing opposed to the driver 21.

On the other hand, in the case where the nail described before, whichthe driver 21 failed to drive, remains in the driving passage, as shownin FIG. 7, when the face plate 90 is rotated and the driving passage ofthe cartridge body 81 is opened, the nail, which the driver 21 failed todrive, that is, the jammed nail is removed. According to the embodiment,the face plate 90 for arranging the driving passage so that it can beopened is provided. Therefore, a so-called jam processing, in which thejammed nail is removed, can be executed. Accordingly, the staplecartridge 80 becomes handy.

When a warning that the staples S have been used up is given, the staplecartridge 80 is replaced with a new one and the old staple cartridge 80is scraped, that is, the old staple cartridge 80 is disposed. First, asshown in FIG. 3, the staple cartridge 80 is detached from the magazine40 and the new staple cartridge 80 is attached to the magazine 40. Onthe other hand, in order to scrap the staple cartridge 80 which hasalready been used up, the staples S made of metal, which remain becausethey have not been used up, the staple guide 92 and the pusher 94 areclassified from the staple body 81 and scrapped.

According the embodiment, in the staple cartridge 80, no feedingmechanism including the feeding needle 71 is arranged other than theforming plate 22 and the driver 21. Accordingly, the constitution of thestaple cartridge 80 can be made simple and the manufacturing cost isinexpensive. Further, when the staple cartridge 80 is scrapped, thenumber of the scrapped parts can be reduced, that is, the members to bescrapped, which can be used as resources, can be reduced.

In the embodiment, the staple cartridge 80 for accommodating aroller-shaped staple belt is arranged in the body of Stapler 11 so thatit can be replaced. Therefore, double feeding of the staples can beavoided. That is, the high accuracy is not required for the height ofthe feeding passage or the feeding pawl. For example, it is possible toeliminate the staple guide unit or reduce an amount of feed of nails.Further, it is unnecessary to execute the accuracy inspection.Accordingly, the manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared with theconventional staple cartridge.

Therefore, according to the embodiment, the constitution of the staplecartridge 80, the number of parts of which is necessarily minimized, canbe made simple. Accordingly, the staple cartridge 80 can be of thedisposable type, the manufacturing cost of which is inexpensive.

Further, a way of which the staple guide 92 and the pusher 94 areclassified from the staple body 81 and scrapped is explainedhereinafter. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the staple cartridge 80 isdetached from the magazine 40 and the new staple cartridge 80 isattached to the magazine 40. On the other hand, in order to scrap thestaple cartridge 80 which has already been used up, as shown in FIG. 7,the face plate 90 is rotated and a driving passage of the cartridge body81 is opened.

Successively, as shown in FIG. 8, in the case where the metallic staplesS remain because they have not been used up, the metallic staples S aretaken out. In other words, as shown in FIG. 6, in the case where thestaples S remain in the leading portion 84, the staples S become astopper and it is impossible to detach the staple guide 92 and thepusher 94 from the staple body 81.

In this case, in order to clearly illustrate the detachment of thestaple guide 92 and the pusher 94, the cover 86 and the face plate 90are omitted in the illustrations of FIGS. 8, 10 and 12. The face plate90 may be previously detached before the table guide 92 and the pusher94 are detached.

Next, when the staples S are taken out, that is, when no obstaclesexist, as shown in FIG. 9, the groove portion 93 (shown in FIG. 10) ofthe staple guide 92 and the stopper 85 are disengaged from each other.Then, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the staple guide 92 can be detachedfrom the cartridge body 81.

Finally, since no staples S and staple guide 92 exist, that is, since noobstacles exist, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the engaging piece 94A ofthe pusher 94 and the head portion 81A of the cartridge body aredisengaged from each other and the pusher 94 is removed from thecartridge body 81. In the embodiment, when the staples S are removedfrom the inside of the cartridge body 81, no obstacles exist. Therefore,when the staple guide 92 made of metal is disengaged from the cartridgebody 81 or the pusher 94 made of metal is disengaged from the cartridgebody 81, the staple guide 92 or the pusher 94 can be simply removed.

The staple guide 92 and the pusher 94 are engaged with and assembled tothe cartridge body 81 so that the staple S can be a stopper. Therefore,without using any tools or without dividing the cartridge body 81 intopieces, that is, specifically, without giving a force to divide thecartridge body 81 into pieces, it is possible to simply classify thecartridge body 81, the staple guide 92 and the pusher 94.

According to the present embodiment, it is possible to classify thecartridge body 81 made of synthetic resin, the staple guide 92 made ofmetal and the pusher 94 made of metal and the thus classified componentscan be scrapped or collected. Therefore, it is possible to saveresources and prevent the environmental pollution. As described before,it is possible to take the staple cartridge 80 apart into pieces afterit has been used up. Therefore, it is possible to prevent recharging thestaples. Further, it is possible to prevent the reuse of the staplecartridge 80.

In the embodiment, the staple cartridge of the electrically operatedstapler is taken up as an example. However, it is possible to apply thepresent invention to a staple cartridge of a manually operated stapler.The present embodiment is an example in which the face plate 90 isarranged in the staple cartridge 80. However, in the present invention,the face plate may be arranged on the stapler body side. In this case,at the time of jam processing, after the staple cartridge has beenremoved, the jammed nails remaining on the face plate are taken out fromthe stapler body side.

In the embodiment, a staple cartridge is used in which staples rolledinto a roller-shape are accommodated. However, it is possible to applythe present invention to a staple cartridge for accommodating aplurality of sheet-shaped staples which are laminated.

While the present invention has been shown and described with referenceto certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

1. A staple cartridge detachably arranged in a body of a stapler,comprising: a cartridge body for accommodating a staple belt in which aplurality of rod-shaped staples are connected to each other and rolledinto a roller-shape; a face plate for forming a driving passage fordriving out the staples; and a guide member for guiding the staples at atime of forming leg portions of the staples and after forming the legportions, wherein the staple belt, before forming leg portions, servesas a stopper which prevents the guide member from being removed from thecartridge body, the guide member is detachably engaged with thecartridge body, and the face plate is rotatably arranged so that thedriving passage is opened to remove the guide member from the cartridgebody.
 2. The staple cartridge according to claim 1 wherein the cartridgebody is made of synthetic resin and the guide member is made of metal.3. The staple cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising: apusher, wherein the pusher is a unitary member, and a pair of springpieces for biasing the leg portions of the staples are integrally formedin the pusher.
 4. The staple cartridge according to claim 1, wherein thecartridge body includes an accommodating portion for directlyaccommodating the staple belt, and a leading portion for sending thestaples toward the face plate, and the guide member includes a stapleguide for guiding the staples at the time of forming the leg portions ofthe staples, and a pusher for guiding the staples after forming the legportions.
 5. The staple cartridge according to claim 4, wherein thestaple guide is engaged with the cartridge body so as to be on asubstantially same face as a feeding face of the leading portion, andthe pusher includes a face on which the staple guide is disposed, and astopper piece for receiving the staple guide is formed on the face ofthe pusher.